Treaty of Tartu

On 2 February 1920 in Tartu, the former Dorpat, representatives of the Republic of Estonia and of Soviet Russia signed a peace treaty that ended the Estonian War of Independence, fought since November 1918. Russia “unreservedly” recognised the independence and sovereignty of Estonia and renounced “voluntarily and for ever” all rights over the Estonian people and territory. It was the first de jure recognition of Estonia by any state. The head of the Estonian delegation, Jaan Poska, said that this was the most important day in Estonia’s history for seven hundred years, because for the first time Estonia alone would decide the fate of its people.

Peace made while fighting

Small Estonia had survived a year and a half of war thanks to volunteers, Finnish help and the British fleet, and also thanks to its cooperation with the White North-Western Army. In the summer its troops also fought in Latvia, where they defeated the Germans at Cēsis. In the autumn the Whites of General Nikolai Yudenich came right up to Petrograd, but their offensive collapsed. The government in Tallinn concluded that further war was beyond the country’s strength. Families whose men were at the front longed for peace, and the army had nowhere left to find recruits.

The delegations arrived in Tartu at the beginning of December 1919. The positions of the two sides were very far apart, and several times the talks threatened to break down. At the same time the Red Army launched heavy attacks near Narva to force concessions. The Estonians therefore negotiated and fought at the same time, and the 3rd Division, the victors of Cēsis, was brought from Latvia to the Narva front. The Reds were worn down, and on 3 January 1920 a ceasefire came into force. The negotiations took their toll on Poska’s health. The delegation’s doctor, Mait Püüman, advised him to withdraw from them, but in the circumstances that was impossible.

The terms

The treaty, drawn up in Estonian and Russian, had 20 articles. On the Estonian side it was signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly Jaan Poska, Ants Piip, Julius Seljamaa and Mait Püüman and by General Jaan Soots (PL), and on the Soviet side by Adolph Joffe, a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, who two years earlier had led the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk, and Isidor Gukovsky.

The border was drawn by Estonian officers, General Soots and Colonel Victor Mutt, so that it could be defended in the future. Estonia received the districts on the right bank of the Narva and Petseri County with the town of Pechory (PL). It was released from all obligations towards Russia, including the debts of the former empire. Russia was to return property evacuated from Estonia during the war and to hand over 15 million gold roubles from the reserves of the former Bank of Russia. That gold became the foundation of the Estonian currency. Every Estonian living in Russia could return home. According to the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of some 190,000 Estonians in Russia 38,000 made use of this right. Both sides undertook not to allow on their territory troops or governments hostile to the other.

Significance

For Estonia the treaty was the state’s birth certificate. For isolated Soviet Russia it was the first peace with one of the new states on its western borders and, according to the Estonian foreign ministry, the first international act recognising the Soviet government. Some of the Entente powers opposed it, because they wanted to keep Moscow isolated. On the model of Tartu, Russia soon made peace with Lithuania (12 July 1920) and Latvia (11 August 1920). Poland was still at war with Russia at the time.

Ratifications were exchanged in Moscow on 30 March 1920 and the treaty came into force. Jaan Poska did not live to see the day: he died suddenly on 7 March. Russia did not carry out all the provisions. Among other things, it never returned the collections of the University of Tartu evacuated to Voronezh, and the border of 1920 lasted until 1944.